North Korea: Are we on the brink of war?

We debate how likely war between N Korea and the US is, who's to blame for the latest crisis and how to de-escalate.

"Fire and fury like the world has never seen" was Donald Trump's promise should North Korea issue any more threats towards the United States.

Yet this week, Kim Jong Un's government threatened the US with "the greatest pain and suffering it has ever gone through in its entire history" if the United Nations imposed new sanctions.

Only hours later, the UN Security Council unanimously approved the toughest ever sanctions on North Korea. So, how close are we to an all-out nuclear war? Or is there a viable diplomatic solution to this crisis?

To debate this in this UpFront special, we're joined by:

Robert Gallucci - former US assistant secretary of state who served as the chief US negotiator during the last major crisis with North Korea in 1994;

Sue Mi Terry - former CIA and US National Security Council analyst on North Korea and a senior advisor at Bower Group Asia;

Yoon Young-Kwan - former South Korean foreign minister; and

Charles Liu - senior fellow at the Peking University Center on China and Global Affairs and the founder of Hao Capital.